Frontier Partner Projects

Kenya is a land of intense beauty, epic landscapes, fascinating tribes and exuberant communities. Magnificent wildlife roam across vast Rift Valley plains, white sand beaches fringe the turquoise Indian Ocean and ancient tribal communities practise traditional customs little changed since the dawn of time. All these combine to provide a destination of unparalleled appeal and fascination.

Travel to this spectacular land and immerse yourself in a community and culture in which you will be made to feel incredibly welcome. The people are positively inspiring and the landscape, national parks, beaches and surrounding islands are stunningly beautiful.

Once you’ve learnt to do things the Kenyan way you’ll never want to leave this unique travel destination.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Discover this land of intense beauty

Bring fun and affection to the children

Earn your TEFL certificate for free!

Enjoy a challenging & varied work schedule

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Minimum age of 17 years

FAST FACTS

Location

Kenya, Mombasa

Activities

Teach English and other subjects
Care for children
Feeding and food preparation
Extracurricular activities
Creating lesson plans

WHAT DOES THE PROJECT DO?

In Kenya the term ‘orphanage’ spans a variety of institutions including children’s homes, care centres and rehabilitation centres. These organisations care for children who have been orphaned, abandoned or abused and have no other place to go. Having lived tragic lives without love and affection the main thing most of these children need is some care and attention.

Many orphanages and children’s centres open their doors to other impoverished children during the daytime by providing feeding programmes or a community school in order to benefit both the children living there and the wider community. There are also a number of government primary school close to the orphanage where children are able to get an education.

The Kenyan education system works on simple standard levels, each of which corresponds to one year of school and has it’s own standard text books for each subject. This makes it straightforward for you to pick up on the syllabus where they left off, understand what students are working towards and come up with creative and exciting ways to help them understand the topics. Primary school is open to all in Kenya and continues until the age of 14/15 years when students lucky enough to attain good grades may be able to secure sponsorship or scholarships to continue their education to high school and beyond. The hard work you put in during your project could really make a difference to the future of these determined and enthusiastic children.

WHAT WILL I BE DOING?

You will agree your detailed project schedule with the project coordinators on arrival. You could be spending a few weeks each at the school and the orphanage, splitting your days between the two projects or mixing it up day by day. However your work programme pans out you will find it hard work and challenging but deeply fulfilling.

You will help in the day-to-day care of the orphans and running of the orphanage, helping with feeding and food preparation, play time, arranging extra curricular activities, sports, arts and crafts, entertainments and generally bringing fun and affection to the lives of these vulnerable and deprived kids. You may also be asked to help teach a variety of essential subjects such as basic maths, English, reading, and indeed anything else in which you have experience.

Volunteers will work with young children and babies who either have no family or are from very deprived backgrounds. Some of the children are suffering from HIV or AIDS and have been abandoned or are too sick to go to school, others may have been subject to abuse. Most of the children are in need of love and affection and you will be utterly astounded to see how much your care and attention can change their lives.

You will also have a full teaching schedule enabling you to engage fully with your pupils, using your creativity and initiative to deliver a stimulating teaching programme.

You will benefit in terms of your personal and professional experience and will be encouraged to formulate ideas and develop your teaching skills and techniques. Working either with a local teacher or independently, you could be directly involved with marking pupils' work, preparing homework and assembling innovative and effective lesson plans.

There are a range of extracurricular activities you could organise, depending on your personal skills and interests – whether it is running a sports team, planning a school play, organising a choir, or conducting one to one tuition for children who are struggling. Just use your initiative and get the kids involved! Whatever you decide, you are sure to gain huge satisfaction from inspiring these underprivileged children, whilst enhancing your own skills and experience significantly.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I ARRIVE?

You will be picked up from Nairobi airport by a friendly local staff member. You will usually spend a night in the Kenyan capital to recover from your international flight before taking the comfortable coach ride to the coast and Mombasa. If you prefer you can fly directly to Mombasa and we will arrange airport pick up for you accordingly.

In Mombasa the local staff will meet you and introduce you to your host and the local area. Both your host and local coordinator will be more than happy to help you settle in and acclimatise and you'll feel at home in no time in this friendly and laid back community.

WHERE WILL I BE STAYING?

You will be staying with a friendly host in a homestay which will allow you to truly experience Kenyan culture. We choose our hosts carefully to ensure that they are able to provide the support and security needed to make your stay comfortable – and fun! The homestay will usually have a bathroom, living room with TV, kitchen with a fridge and will be close to transport and local shops. You will be made to feel part of the family from the moment you arrive and you will soon find yourself immersed in home and community life.

WHAT WILL I BE EATING?

You will eat with your host and will be provided with two meals a day, enabling you to get a true feel for the Kenyan lifestyle and sample some authentic African home cooking. For lunch volunteers usually eat out, with colleagues or at the projects themselves as they are away from the homestay.

Kenyan cuisine offers a variety of dishes based on meat and vegetable stews. Most dishes are served with either rice or ugali; the staple food for most of sub-Saharan Africa made from maize flour. You may also have the chance to sample such delicacies as "oysters Mombasa", fish or chicken in coconut, groundnut soup or beef and potato stew, and for dessert, bananas cooked in banana leaves.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

It is often said that a visit to Kenya without a stop at Mombasa is no visit to Kenya. The city is awash with activities ranging from swimming and snorkelling to basking on the brilliant white beaches. Mombasa is surrounded by a number of wildlife parks including Tsavo National Park just three hours away and the Shimba hills game reserve where some of the biggest elephants in the world can be found just a couple of kilometres away. Mombasa has a good selection of bars, cafés and clubs for you to enjoy on your free evenings.

There is a diverse and beautiful array of wildlife and breathtaking scenery to marvel at. The lagoons of the southern coast provide an ideal location for snorkelling or try bird watching or crocodile spotting whilst canoeing in the mangrove swamps.

COSTS

2 weeks
£
595

Extra week
£
195

DEPARTURE DATES

Weekly, please arrive on a Monday.

DURATION

From 2 weeks

This project is available throughout the Christmas period

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Before you go

Pre-departure support & documentation

Travel & medical advice & documentation

Advice on visas & equipment

Discounted medical kit

Free Frontier t-shirt

In-country

2 meals a day

Accommodation

Airport pick-up

Project orientation and training

In-country emergency support

24-hour international HQ back-up

AIRPORT INFORMATION

Nearest airport(s):
Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Apt (NBO)

WHAT'S NOT INCLUDED

Flights

Flights are not included in our project costs. However, Frontier have partnered with an experienced and professional team of travel experts to help our volunteers find the best flight deals for their trips with Frontier. This travel specialist operates in the tailor-made, long haul multi-stop travel market, arranging complex airfares and transfers for independent travellers. They provide expertise, security and a vast product range along with a Travel Butler service which is a single point of contact and support whilst you are overseas.

We recommend that you obtain a quote using the following contact details rather than book online, as our partner will offer you the most competitive fares. To receive your quote or to seek any advice for your flights, please contact Frontier’s dedicated team of travel experts on 0800 082 9994 (or +44 800 082 9994 outside the UK) or email frontier@flightcentre.co.uk
.

Visas

Depending on your destination country and your country of origin, you might require a visa. Please see the appropriate country consular website for details or contact our affiliate visa consultancy service. Please note that your visa will usually start on the date that you enter the destination country regardless of when it was issued. Please check with the relevant embassy or high commission. If you are purchasing your visa or paying entry/exit fees in-country you will probably need to pay in US Dollars. If you have any questions please consult the relevant embassy or high commission. Please check the visa information regularly, as changes often happen without warning.

Insurance

You'll need to buy appropriate travel insurance covering your participation on the
project. You won't be able to go without the right travel insurance so double check
to avoid disappointment. Please make sure that you're covered for the whole duration
of your trip – from the day you leave the UK to the day you return. It's also best
to get your travel insurance at the same time as paying the deposit for your project.
Depending on your policy, this will cover you for any unexpected cancellations.

Cancellation and curtailment of your trip (up to the value of your project contribution).

If you are going to be scuba diving you should get coverage for scuba diving up
to 30m, including hyperbaric therapy treatment (unlimited). You should consider
obtaining insurance to cover you for any additional activities which you plan to
do during, before, or after your Frontier project. We recommend that you obtain
cover for your baggage and personal effects.

LEGAL STATEMENT
Frontier Partner Projects and Frontier group projects are run in partnership with
in-country NGOs, small community based organisations, local research institutes,
academic organisations and conservation agencies. Project descriptions and information
are supplied directly by our partners or field staff and are accurate at time of
publishing.

We aim to keep information up to date and accurate, however, the nature of our projects
and in particular the fact that they are constantly evolving and developing in response
to changing needs means that project activities, travel schedules, tour itineraries
and daily timetables can change overnight and without notice.

To apply for this project, or to register your interest, just click on the orange "Apply Now!" button at the top of the menu. Fill out and submit a short application form and then one of our advisors will give you a call back to answer any questions and to progress your application if you wish to continue.

There is no obligation when making an application, and you do not need to pay anything at this point.